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Kanchenjunga,
in northeastern Nepal on the border with China, is the third-highest
peak in the world. The Taplejung
district is in that region.
Information:
Kanchenjunga
Conservation Area
Map:
Kanchenjunga
Conservation Area
For
those so inclined, there is a webpage where you can contribute
a message to the Book
of Condolences
We
will add more information, images, and
statements as they become available.
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Statement
from David Sheppard
Head, IUCN Programme on Protected Areas
and
Nik Lopoukhine
Chair, World Commission on Protected Areas
25 September 2006
It
is with great sadness that we advise that a number of key
conservation leaders have died in a helicopter crash in
Nepal. Seven WWF staff from its offices in Nepal, the UK
and the US, were on board, as were as high-ranking government
officials, representatives of other agencies, journalists
and Russian crew members. More information on this tragedy
is available on the WWF website. Amongst those killed were
3 WCPA Members: Chandra Gurung, Country Representative,
Asia Pacific Programme, WWF, Nepal Mingma Sherpa, Managing
Director, EHEC, WWF US Narayan Poudel, Director General
of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation,
Nepal We are sure that all WCPA Members and the whole conservation
community will join with us in offering our sincere condolences
to the family and loved ones of all who were killed in this
tragic accident.
Statement
from Dr. Lawrence Hamilton
Senior Senior Advisor, Mountain Biome
World Commission on Protected Areas/IUCN
Statement
from Dr. J. Gabriel Campbell
Director General, International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD) & Chairperson, The Mountain Forum
Statement
from the Executive and Members of the IUCN WCPA
Mountains Biome
Statement
from the UIAA - Union Internationale des Association
d’Alpinisme
International
Mountaineering and Climbing Federation
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Chandra
Gurung, Country Representative,
Asia Pacific Programme, WWF, Nepal
Right:
Dr Chandra Gurung at a meeting February 2006 on the Gold Coast
of Queensland, Australia. Photo by Hum Gurung |
Dr
Chandra Gurung, Vice Chair, Mountains Biome (far left);
Graeme Worboys, and mountain hiking party, Lamington National
Park, Central Eastern Rainforest Reserve World Heritage
Area, Queensland Australia, February 2006. Photo by Hum
Gurung
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Mingma
Sherpa, Managing Director, EHEC, WWF US
 
Audio tribute to Mingma Sherpa on America's National Public
Radio: Mingma
Sherpa, a Giant of Conservation
Left: Mingma speaking at the 2004 Conference on Mountain Corridors
at Banff, Canada. Photo by Graeme Worboys |
Mingma
(front row, right) carried the Nepali flag with our group
to the summit of Sentinel Peak in the Drakensberg Mountains
of South Africa before attending the 5th World Parks Congress
in Durban. Other images can be viewed on the Photo
Gallery pages of our Drakensberg
Workshop site.
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Narayan
Poudel, Director General of the Department of National Parks
and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal
Narayan
Prasad Poudel was Director General of the Nepalese Department
of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. He received
Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in botany from universities
in the USA.
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Narayan was one of the key persons for the establishment
of Makalu-Barun National Park on the eastern border of
Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) National Park.
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News
Updates
IUCN
Nepal-- World Conservation Union Mourns Nepal Helicopter Crash
Victims
25 September 2006
[This
newsletter update includes the names and titles of the victims
of this tragic accident]
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) today is mourning the victims
of the helicopter crash in Nepal . The helicopter was returning
from an inauguration ceremony to hand over management of the Kangchenjunga
conservation area to local communities...more
BBC
News
25 September 2006
A conservation catastrophe for Nepal
The death of all 24 people on board a WWF helicopter which crashed
in eastern Nepal is a human tragedy and also a catastrophe for
Nepal, which has lost a starry line-up of internationally renowned
conservationists. In the words of Gabriel Campbell, an American
conservationist based here: "It would be almost impossible to
assemble a more remarkable group of conservationists and Himalayan
scholars - pioneers in helping local people understand and conserve
their natural resources." ...more
Nepal
News.com
25 September 2006
Sri
Airlines chopper crash: A national tragedy
It was a national tragedy when the country lost noted nature conservationists,
senior officials of the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation
and Kathmandu-based foreign missions in one of the deadliest crashes
in Nepalese aviation history, which was officially confirmed after
three days, on Monday...more
Bloomberg
News--Nepal Searchers Find WWF Helicopter With No Survivors
25 September 2006
"It
has been found near the helicopter departure point,'' Mohan Adhikari,
director general of Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority, said in
a telephone interview from Kathmandu. ``It appears that the primary
factor for the crash has been the weather. The weather was too
bad.''....more
Helicopter
Tragedy - a message from WWF's Director General
25 September 2006
Today
has been a terrible day for those of us at WWF, for Nepal, and
for conservation around the world. We at WWF have lost seven of
our colleagues, our friends, in a helicopter crash in Ghunsa,
Nepal. These were people who had dedicated their lives to conserving
the extraordinary natural resources of Nepal and the Earth. Their
deaths are a huge blow....more
World
Conservation Union Mourns Helicopter Crash Victims
25 September 2006
The
World Conservation Union (IUCN) today is mourning the victims
of the helicopter crash in Nepal. The helicopter was returning
from an inauguration ceremony to hand over management of the Kangchenjunga
conservation area to local communities. ....more
Environment
News Service
25 September 2006
(ENS)
- A helicopter chartered by the international conservation group
WWF has crashed in the mountains of Nepal, killing all 24 people
on board, Nepalese authorities confirmed Monday. The helicopter
crashed Saturday on its return from a ceremony where Nepal's government
turned over conservation of the wildlife and habitat around the
Himalayan mountain of Kanchenjunga to a coalition of local communities.
The group on board the private Russian helicopter included Nepalese
government officials, journalists, Western diplomats, Russian
crew members and seven WWF staffers. ....more
Reuters--Nepal
steps up search for missing copter
24 September 2006
KATHMANDU:
Rescue teams in Nepal stepped up their search for a helicopter
chartered by the World Wildlife Fund with 24 people on board after
it went missing during bad weather, officials said on Sunday.
The Russian-built MI-17 helicopter disappeared on Saturday in
Taplejung district, a remote mountainous area 300 km east of the
capital, Kathmandu, after losing radio contact. Among those aboard
were a senior United States aid official, a Finnish diplomat and
a Nepalese minister. Army and civilian helicopters and ground
rescue teams began combing the forested hills. The aircraft was
carrying seven foreigners and 17 Nepalese nationals. ....more
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